Unrequited Love
by Kootie Bomb
Summary: For as long as she could remember, Lucy has sat back, leaned against that piano, and threw herself at him.


Lucille van Pelt was feeling crabby.

It was a Monday, right after school. That morning she woke up late, so she couldn't eat breakfast, and served a lunch detention for arriving late to school. She failed one of her history tests, got sent to the principal's office for slugging Linus in the stomach, and, on top of it all, her new nail polish was chipping. And they said being a teenager is fun...

On the bright side, Lucy had gotten the chance to wear her new clothes to school. She went shopping with Patty and Frieda the other day (Violet was on a date with Shermy), and each of them had bought several new outfits. So, today, Lucy had dressed in a black skirt and a blue short-sleeved shirt. The shirt had a big black musical note on the lower left corner...it was sure to get Schroeder's attention. Thing was, Schroeder wasn't even in school today, but only because it was the famous Beethoven's birthday - December 16th.

Lucy recalled the many Beethoven Birthdays she and Schroeder have shared...she giggled a bit, remembering a time when they were 8...

_Lucy leaned against Schroeder's toy piano, listening to Beethoven's fifth. She tapped her fingers against the piano softly, wondering what to talk about - something that would help Schroeder notice her for once. She turned to him, remembering the important event that had occured last week, "Well, did you have a good time Saturday?" Her face fell a bit when he didn't bother to look up from his piano. But she perked when he replied,_

_"Saturday?"_

_Lucy nodded. Even though it was only one word, they were actually having a decent conversation, "Last Saturday...December sixteenth, Beethoven's birthday!"_

_Beethoven's fifth halted to a stop as Schroeder's fingers froze. Lucy raised an eyebrow as his hair stood on end, his eyes widening to the shape of saucers. He made a wheezy sound and buried his face in his hands,_

_"Oh no..."_

_Lucy followed him out of his house, getting the thought that she should talk to him. They found themselves at the brick bridge. Schroeder stared into the water as Lucy ranted, _

_"**How could you forget Beethoven's birthday**!? **You**, of all people! It would be different if it were someone else...but **you**! You're the one who's the **NUT** about Beethoven!!"_

_Schroeder looked at her weakly, "You have a way of putting things so nicely..." Lucy watched him walk away from her, further into the town's park. She followed him from a distance. He stood in front of his idol's statue, staring at it for a while, before he leaned against it, sliding to the floor, _

_"I hate myself!"_

_Lucy raised her eyebrows and figured she should go home and let him suffer in silence. And then she realized that was probably the wrong way to comfort someone, so she returned to Schroeder (who was still leaning against the Beethoven statue) with her jump rope, "So you forgot Beethoven birthday! Who cares?" Schroeder looked at her sadly as she continued, "What difference does it make? Who really cares? It's all so stupid!" She began to jump rope, "You take things too seriously, Schroeder..."_

_She paused, seeing this as an opportunity... "Now, if had been **MY** birthday you had forgotten..."_

_"Oh, good grief..."_

Lucy scowled. This event hardly strengthened the friendship between them.

* * *

Schroeder flexed his fingers with determination. _Practice makes perfect,_ he thought a nod, and began to pound out the first few notes of Beethoven's third.

The blonde was in a happy mood today. Beethoven's birthday. He _didn't foget it _this time. He had spent all day enjoying himself - sleeping in 'till 9:00am, spending at least three hours playing his piano, having a nice lunch, lying back to watch a Beethoven documentary, and he just returned to his piano once more. He has a new piano now...clearly outgrowing the other one.

It's a grand piano, shiny black. Schroeder would polish it every night, so it would look nice and fresh by tomorrow morning. But still, he kept his old toy piano on his bedside table. When he was feeling down, he would plink out a few notes every now and then.

On the darker side (yes, even on this awesome day, there was a bad side), Schroeder hadn't recieved a call from his friends yet. He supposed it was just because they were in school, and hadn't had a chance yet. But it sort of gave him disappointment...they knew he loved Beethoven. Or maybe they just forgot it was Beethoven's birthday. But that's doubtful...when they were kids, they remembered events like that. Once, when Schroeder had forgotten his idol's birthday, Charlie Brown had reminded him...and Lucy...well, she seems to keep tabs on anything that would make him happy, so she probably hadn't forgotten.

Schroeder recalled the many Beethoven Birthdays he and Lucy had shared...like that one time when they were 8...

_Lucy leaned against Schroeder's piano, listening to him play. She faced him, stirring up a conversation, "Well, did you have a good time Saturday?" Schroeder didn't bother to look up from his piano, figuring it was just one of Lucy's many schemes to get him to 'notice' her (but, due to her big mouth, of course he notices her),_

_"Saturday?"_

_Lucy raised her eyebrows, "Last Saturday...December sixteenth, Beethoven's birthday!"_

_Schroeder felt every blonde hair on his head stick up on end, his brain suddenly going blank as his eyes widened, his fingers frozen over the piano keys. Lucy waved a hand in front of his eyes, but he didn't budge, until after about five minutes, he buried his face in his hands,_

_"Oh no..."_

_For the rest of that day, Lucy followed him around, sounding amazed, _

_"**How could you forget Beethoven's birthday**!? **You**, of all people! It would be different if it were someone else...but **you**! You're the one who's the **NUT** about Beethoven!!"_

_Schroeder looked at her weakly, "You have a way of putting things so nicely..." And he walked off to the park, look up at the stature of Ludwig Van Beethoven, falling against it, squeaking out,_

_"I hate myself!"_

_Lucy returned with her jump rope at least 20 minutes later, taking a different angle, "So you forgot Beethoven birthday! Who cares?" Schroeder looked at her sadly as she continued, "What difference does it make? Who really cares? It's all so stupid!" She began to jump rope, "You take things too seriously, Schroeder..."_

_She paused, before grinning at her friend, "Now, if had been **MY** birthday you had forgotten..."_

_"Oh, good grief..."_

Schroeder chuckled. Even in that event, the fussbudget still managed annoy him.

* * *

**The introduction to this short story. Loeder? Schrucy? Whatever you would call LucyxSchroeder. It'll only be 4-6 chapters, I guess. **

**If you noticed, it was the same flashback in different angles. And that's an actual event in the comic strips - if you had the purple book of the 'The Complete Peanuts (1961-1962)' with Schroeder on the cover, you could find it on page 52-53. **

**In the next chapter, there will be the rest of the gang, and Lucy and Schroeder would be in the same scene XD**

**Love, **

**KB**


End file.
